Mushrooms As Building Material For Architectural Structures And Furniture By Philip Ross

We were always told to eat our vegetables, but never to sit on them. So when we saw these pieces of furniture and other small structures by Philip Ross who uses mushrooms as a building material, we were a little... shocked.

Ross, who is a mycologist, told Glasstire that after learning to grow mushrooms for medicinal purposes, he quickly realized that they can be cast and molded into structures. Additionally, Inhabitat reported that Ross discovered that fungus is effective for construction because it's water, mold and fire-resistant and amazingly it's stronger than concrete.

Currently, Ross is working on a prototype for a fungus stool, called Yamanakita at The Workshop Residence in San Francisco. He told us that the top is sealed with a mixture of beeswax, a linseed based polymer hardening wax and tree sap resin, which is fully biodegradable when pulverized and the legs are from salvaged wood.

Click through the slideshow below to see Ross' fungus stool and other images of this organic building material in use.

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The top is sealed with a mixture of beeswax, a linseed based polymer hardening wax and tree sap resin, which is fully biodegradable when pulverized and the legs are from salvaged wood.
Photo courtesy of Phil Ross